More than any other genre of film, horror most easily and effectively lends itself to falling into the realm of being so bad and poorly constructed that the final product wraps back around and becomes a blast to watch unfold. There are numerousamazing so bad it’s good horror moviesthat have been released throughout film history, yet the advent of digital media and modern technological advancements have ushered in a new era of so bad it’s good horror in the 2010s.
The rise of the internet and technological booms allowed for a massively decreased ease of access when it came to filmmaking, allowing anyone and everyone with enough passion to create their own wild horror movies. The result has been a number of amazingly unbelievable concepts, which combined with lower budgets, have created some campy, unforgettable so bad it’s good experiences.
10’Cell' (2016)
Celltakes place in a horrifying apocalyptic world in which a majority of the population has been transformed into mindless bloodthirsty creatures following a strange signal pulsating from all cell phone networks worldwide. As one of the few survivors, Clay Riddell (played byJohn Cusack) is on a quest to return home and find his family, hoping that they haven’t been lost in the chaos of the world.
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While a number ofStephen Kingadaptationshave found themselves to be some of the most acclaimed and well-regarded movies of all time,Cellis easily one of the most poorly made and possiblythe worst Stephen King adaptations. Cell’s entire premise hinges on its extremely dated “technology and cellphones are bad” messaging, which makes the entire proceedings impossible to take seriously. Even aside from its poor messaging, the film’s lackluster filmmaking and baffling editing decisions make it an unintentionally hilarious watch.
9’Llamageddon' (2015)
Llamageddontells the story of a mysterious killer llama from outer space who crashes to Earth, with an insatiable bloodlust for murder and destruction. As the llama finds itself crashing a party, a group of survivors is forced to do everything they can to survive the wrath of the Llamageddon.
Llamageddonis very consciously aware of its absurd and nonsensical premise and uses the most of its incredibly minuscule budget to play into the absurdity of it all at every possible opportunity. The film doesn’t just rely on the absurdity of its premise as the only source of humor however, as it plays into all the tropes and conventions of low-budget horror B-movies, creating a perfect love letter to so bad it’s good horror. It’s a style of incredibly self-aware humor that doesn’t work for everyone but works wonders for those who can get into the ensuing madness.
8’Death Note' (2017)
Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the classic anime,Death Notefollows the story of Light, a young man who finds himself in possession of the mysterious and supernatural Death Note. With it, he is able to end the lives of anyone he desires by writing their name in the book, soon giving Light a massive power fantasy as he begins to shape the world for the better in his own image. At the same time, he finds himself hiding from detectives attempting to search for his identity and put an end to his wrath.
While the originalDeath Noteseries is widely considered one of thegreatest animated shows of all time, the live-action film adaptation fails to recapture the original to an absurdly comical degree. From changing characters' names and motivations to dampening their intricacies to paint the moral issues as much more simplistic and black and white, the film does its best to make the story as widely accessible as possible. However, all of these changes completely backfire and go against what made the original so great, creating an experience that feels like a joke, even with its positive aspects.
7’The Bye Bye Man' (2017)
The Bye Bye Manfollows the story of a group of college students who after moving into an old house off campus, accidentally unleash the horrific entity known asThe Bye Bye Manonto the world. The group does everything that they can to save one another from the wrath of the entity, as well as being forced to keep his existence a secret, in able to save others from the same deadly fate.
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The Bye Bye Manis the perfect encapsulation and pinnacle of all the cheap and generic trends and tropes that defined the 2010s era of horror. The film does the absolute bare minimum when it comes to scares, characters, and just about everything required to make a horror movie actually interesting to watch. Yet despite all of this, everyone’s incredibly monotone and serious conversations revolving around a creature with a name as comical as “The Bye Bye Man” makes an unintentional laugh riot.
6’The VelociPastor' (2018)
The VelociPastorfollows the story of Doug Jones, a priest who after losing his parents, travels to China, where he miraculously inherits the ability to transform into a dinosaur. While initially horrified by his newfound powers, he soon finds positive aspects to his newfound abilities, as he is soon convinced to use his powers for good and fight crime in the name of the lord.
Arguably one of the most absurd concepts for a horror movie,The Velocipastortakes full advantage of its premise and perfectly leans into it to createan absurdist masterpiece. Everything about the film from its low budget to its cheaply constructed effects and plot all come together to make a hilariously engaging self-aware experience. The film chooses to go down the path of mediocrity in its own way, and comes out the other side reveling in the chaos of it all, leaving behind a mess of gore, strange characters, and a surprising amount of ninjas.
5’Wish Upon' (2017)
Wish Upontells the story of Clare Shannon (played byJoey King), a teenage girl who soon discovers a box with magical powers that is able to grant wishes. However, it soon becomes apparent that these wishes always come with a cost, as a body count soon finds itself rising and rising as more and more wishes are made from the box, increasing in gravitas and relevance to Clare’s life.
Teenage-led horror movies have always been able to find a knack for themselves over the years, yetWish Uponamplifies the unlikable trope-filled teenage archetypes of its characters to the max to dire results. Nearly every character inWish Uponfinds a way to be unlikable to the audience in one way or another, transforming what was intended to be a harrowing tale of greed into a film where the audience is wishing for the characters to die. Combined with some increasingly convoluted rules and twists, and the resulting horror film is much more comedic than intended.
4’Shark Exorcist' (2015)
Shark Exorcisttells the story of an evil demonic nun, who in an act of anger against the world, unleashes a deadly demonic shark who is possessed by the devil himself. As the shark finds ways to continue its blight upon humanity, it becomes up to a small group of survivors to put an end to the shark’s wrath, thanks in part to help from an unexpectedly helpful shark exorcist.
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Despite its flashy title and concept, there is very little actual shark to be seen inShark Exorcist, as the sad reality is that the already cheap CGI shark is too expensive to be on-screen for too long. The film actually follows a large amount of dialogue scenes of people talking about the demonic shark in question, and how they are going to stop it. While far from what is to be expected from a standardso bad it’s good shark movie,Shark Exorciststill delivers in the absolute absurdity and complete lack of effort in every imaginable way.
3’Sharknado' (2013)
One of the original massive intentionally bad horror movies of the digital era,Sharknado’s absurd premise of a tornado filled with sharks hitting Los Angeles immediately made it a fan favorite among horror fans. The film’s popularity also spawned a number of sequels that attempted to cash in on the craze and excitement surrounding the absurdity of it all, yet none of the sequels can hold a candle to the lighting in a bottle of the original.
Sharknado’s entire absurdist concept is a perfect symbol of the internet and comedy in the early 2010s as a whole, as it was able to soar to unimaginable heights in the same vein as other absurdity disaster movies likeSnakes on a Plane. While many other films would attempt to recapture the absurdity magic thatSharknadoaccomplished, very few have been able to get the perfect mix of bad CGI, generic characters, and awkward dialogue that makesSharknadosuch a hilarious watch even 10 years later.
2’Slender Man' (2018)
Based on the classicinternet creepypastastory,Slender Manfollows the story of a group of high school girls who perform a ritual in an attempt to debunk the stories and legends surrounding Slender Man. However, once one of the girls in the group mysteriously goes missing, the rest of the group begins to suspect that she may have become the next victim of the Slender Man, with the remainder of the group next on the chopping block.
Slender Manwas an internet horror icon of the early 2010s, but by 2018, any and all interest surrounding the mythos had been completely abandoned by the majority of internet users, leaving the film without any of the initial enthusiasm. Even aside from this lack of a dedicated audience,Slender Manhilariously doesn’t understand what made the original creepypasta refreshing and terrifying to readers to begin with, instead choosing to become another generic supernatural horror movie. The movie plays it so by the books to the point of parody, as it ironically cemented its own terrifying legacy, as one of theworst horror movies of the 2010s.
1’Birdemic: Shock and Terror' (2010)
Birdemic: Shock and Terrorfollows the story of a small town that mysteriously finds itself under attack from a platoon of eagles and vultures who have suddenly decided to take revenge upon humanity. As the body count continues to rise at the hands of the avian apocalypse, a group of survivors attempts to fight back against the birds, attempting to leave the city for any hopes of a solution and refuge.
Birdemicis the rare so bad it’s good movie that only comes around once in a generation, that is so mindbogglingly terrible and poorly constructed that nearly every frame features something to laugh at. From the unbelievably bad special effects to the painfully bad acting to the egregious fact that the “Birdemic” doesn’t even happen until 40 minutes into the movie, everything works together to makeBirdemica so bad it’s good masterpiece. It’s ironic thatBirdemictakes so much inspiration fromAlfred Hitchcock’s original horror masterpiece,The Birds, asBirdemicsomehow managed to be a masterpiece in its own, terrible way.
